Grand Host of Nagash
Nagash (General)
Arkhan the Black
Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon (Ethereal Amulet)
10 Dire Wolves (Battleline)
10 Dire Wolves (Battleline)
5 Dire Wolves (Battleline)
5 Dire Wolves (Battleline)
10 Hexwraiths
Geminids of Uhl-Gysh
Soulsnare Shackles
Mortalis Terminexus
Vault of Souls
Lots of dogs, and wizards that were far superior to mine in every way... Alright.
The scenario was Better Part of Valour, so I knew that I was in with a change, even against the arcane might of Nagash and Arkhan. This game would be won or lost very early on. I was confident in holding my objectives pretty securely, but the test would be if I had enough punch to flood any of his objectives and burn them.
I stacked my right side with bodies, to make sure that I at least held them for most of the game. The Pusgoyles were atop the hill, in range of both the Bell and the Lord of Afflictions, giving them the speed they need to hit just about anywhere on the board. And on my left objective, Festus was protected by the Blight Kings and the second Jabberslythe. That was definitely my weak side, but I had every intention of burning it early, and consolidating onto my centre and right objectives.
With most of his spells out of range, Tim chose to give me the first turn, which I gladly accepted.
They say the best defence is a good offence. So, I pushede with almost my entire army. The Great Unclean One sat back out of range of Hand of Dust, and the Lord of Blights on the hill summoned five Plaguebearers on the right objective, but just about everything else pushed up. The Pusgoyles barrelled across the field to punch Nagash right in his big skully face, which in hindsight was a mistake. I feel like they would have been better used to attack the right flank, butcher the dogs and burn that objective. But there was an opening in his lines, and I took it. With any luck, I could slice a few wounds off him! Besides, I didn't need to KILL the dogs. Just outnumber them. And I was confident the Plaguebearers were up for the task. They would have possibly done it too, but I bombed the charge roll against the dogs, meaning that I couldn't even attempt a sneaky pile in onto it.
The Pusgoyles put a dent in Nagash, putting a handful of wounds through, but not enough to have any meaningful impact.
On the left, I made a critical error. I pushed the Jabberslythe all the way up the board, rather than keeping him in the back pocket to threaten and deter the Zombie Dragon, as well as be another body to contest. Instead, he was left standing in the middle of nowhere, being no real danger to anyone. This left my objective dangerously exposed.
As if to prove my point, my left flank completely collapsed in Tim's first turn. The Jabberslythe died a horrible death, Hexwraiths were summoned from the grave, and the Zombie Lord rolled hot and killed three Blight Kings, claiming the objective in the process. Festus knew what was about to happen.
In the centre, the sheer magical might of Nagash could not be denied. He debuffed the Pusgoyles into the ground, and had hoped to cause major problems by Hand of Dusting one of the middle models, breaking coherency. Luckily for me, I picked the correct hand, much to his frustration. Arkhan then decided to join in the fight, while all the dogs moved to shield against the Plaguebearers. The Pusgoyles, while not killing anything, flat out refused to take damage, shrugging off enough wounds to wipe out the unit, leaving two alive when there realistically should have been none. Tim had made a critical error, however, as only Nagash was in range of the centre objective after the movement phase. If I won priority going into turn two, I could retreat from combat, fly over the heads of the Death lords, and burn it! A fool proof plan...
...Unless, of course, I got double turned. Nagash continued a terrifying trend of double casting almost all of his spells, but once again, I saved my Lord of Afflictions from Hand of Dust through sheer luck of the guess. This didn't change much, however. The Pusgoyles finally fell to Nagash's blade and Arkhan's staff. Festus was slaughtered, and the Zombie Dragon and Hexwraiths began their sweep behind my lines. And between the dogs and endless spells, my Plaguebearers were left with nowhere to go, and barely the ability to fight thanks to spells and Geminids.
With victory all but assured, Tim began to tighten the net. Dogs ran to within range of the GUO's objective and burnt it from underneath him, and he was left to ponder his fate, as Nagash advanced upon him to deliver the coup-de-grace. From this point onward, Tim was in it to rack up a huge kill point tally. I didn't think the Death army had too much killing power without Morghasts of Grimghasts, but boy, did Tim prove me wrong. I suffered horrific casualties, and bled huge chunks kill points to the end.
What started out as a high-stakes gambling match from my side really did not end well. In hindsight, I made some critical errors, but it was an exceptionally fun game to end the weekend on. The bloodbath meant that we actually had a pretty relaxed game that didn't feel rushed, and we got a chance to wander around afterward and catch the tail end of everyone else's game.
Finishing the weekend on 3 Major Wins and 2 Major Losses, my Sports, Painting and Kill Points put me at 13th overall out of 42 players, which I was thrilled with. My goal was to go at least 3-2, and I'd managed to hit that goal on day one.
I think the biggest challenge at the event was, of course, the schedule. The rounds were only two and a half hours long, which, when you're playing 2500 points, just isn't enough. Fortunately, I wasn't affected as much as some people were. The games that I won were decisively strong victories, and the games that I lost, I got mauled in the first two turns. This is something that is being addressed next year, under the new TO's, however, and I will be attending the event again, for sure.
Despite the time challenges, I had a great event, and thoroughly enjoyed all of my games, no matter how nail-biting some of them were. All five of my opponents had put a ton of effort into their armies, and it made for a great weekend of fun and dice-rolling. I got to drink good drink, eat good food, and meet a bunch of people who I've only ever known as a name on Facebook, so it was great to meet everyone.
Thanks for reading,
Gabe
